Global Union News from IndustriALL

More than 200 workers from a garment factory producing for global brands such as K-Mart, Target and Disney, demonstrated in front of the Indonesia Ministry of Manpower Office and the Embassy of South Korea in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 14 March, demanding six-months unpaid wages and benefits.

Organising thousands of new workers to build union power for higher wages and better coverage of branch collective agreements were debated at a seminar for national and local textile union leaders on 12-13 March in Skopje, North Macedonia.

On 14 March, women representatives from four IndustriALL affiliates formed the IndustriALL National Women’s Council of South Africa (INWC-SA). The committee immediately released a statement in support of Gugu Ncube, a young woman who has had to endure harsh treatment of both the police and her employer after putting forward accusations of sexual harassment of her boss.

Ford union representatives and their national and international colleagues spent two days debating possible ways of safeguarding jobs at the Ford Sollers joint venture in Russia, and their response to the potential closure of other Ford plants, after the company announced a review of its strategy in the country.

On behalf of 50 million workers around the world, IndustriALL Global Union extends its deepest condolences to the people of New Zealand following the deadly terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch.

For the past 27 days, workers at the Ford India plant in Sanand, Gujarat, have been boycotting food provided by the company in protest against management’s refusal to increase wages in collective bargaining negotiations.

Around 30 women representatives from IndustriALL Global Union’s Turkish affiliates gathered in Istanbul on 7 March 2019 to discuss further cooperation among themselves to address the need to attract women to join, participate and take leading positons in their unions.

Algeria must implement real democracy and stop repression of independent trade unions and civil society, says IndustriALL Global Union, as President Abdelaziz Bouteflika dropped his bid for a fifth term after weeks of demonstrations across the country.

In a letter to the Minister of labour and employment on 5 March, the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) demanded immediate intervention of the government to withdraw false cases, free the imprisoned and reinstate all dismissed workers in the backdrop of mass protests for wage hike across readymade garment manufacturing units.

IndustriALL affiliates in Kyrgyzstan are calling on the government to restore administrative and criminal liability for violations of the country’s Labour code. A legislative reform launched on 1 January this year has led to a deterioration of labour legislation and is depriving workers of social protection.

Violence and harassment affect the lives of millions women workers on a daily basis. Yet there is still no law at the international level that sets a baseline for taking action to eradicate violence and harassment, including gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment, at work.